


Choices

by carolinecrane



Category: Sky High (2005)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-10-03
Updated: 2010-10-03
Packaged: 2017-10-12 09:58:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/123644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolinecrane/pseuds/carolinecrane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Not all battles can be won.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Choices

He was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Not that he'd thought about it much, and Layla would probably accuse him of avoidant behavior or some other big word he didn't understand, exactly. But she'd probably be right – as usual – because the truth was he didn't want to deal with the possibility that something could go wrong.

He liked the way things were back at Sky High, when Warren was brooding and touchy, but still one of the good guys. He liked when they were all on the same side, didn't even mind that the whole world expected him to be just like his father, because at least he had his friends by his side.

But that was a long time ago, and things had changed a lot faster than he ever thought they would. Too fast for him to do anything to stop them, and sometimes he wished he could do that thing that Superman did in the movie, where he flew backwards so fast that he actually managed to turn back time. He'd thought about trying it, but his mom said something about atmospheric pressure and firey deaths and he'd chickened out.

Still, it might have been worth a shot if it meant he didn't have to be here right now.

'Here' being face to face with Warren, the one person who meant the most and the only one he hadn't been able to save. Because Warren didn't want saving, and he'd made that clear enough times that eventually Will had no choice but to stop trying. He knew it was true; Layla and his parents and pretty much everyone else had told him so more times than he could count, and there were times when he could almost believe it. Only now he was standing in front of Warren again, watching the familiar glow of fire engulfing the arms he knew so well and it didn't _feel_ like he'd done enough.

"It doesn't have to be this way," he said, but they both knew it wasn't true. Things had gone too far to go back now, no matter how much Will wanted to. Even if Warren wanted the same thing he knew it was too late, because people were dead and most of the city was still burning and there was no taking it back. No redemption for the bastard son of Barron Battle, not this time, no matter how Will tried to spin it to the mayor or anyone else who might still be alive to care.

"No, it doesn't," Warren answered, and just for a second Will could almost hope that maybe he'd missed something. Maybe there was some secret that only Warren knew, some reason for all this other than revenge on a world that expected too much from superheroes. "It's not too late to join me."

They'd had this argument before. It was kind of comforting, in a way, because just for a second Will could see the old Warren, the one he'd moved in with in college and spent more hours than he could count memorizing in every single way he could think of. The Warren who'd look at him with those intense eyes, but instead of holding Will's life in his hands he was deciding on exactly where to kiss Will first.

Before the arguments started, before the weird phone calls in the middle of the night, the ones Warren wouldn't talk about, that crackled with static like the connection was coming from far away. Before Warren's father came back into his life and they were happy – at least Will had always thought they were happy – but in the end he wasn't enough for Warren.

Then the fights started, and after that it was all downhill until finally he came home one day and Warren just…didn't. The next time Will saw him he was burning a hole through the back of the main branch of the credit union downtown, providing an escape route for Barron Battle and the flunkies he'd managed to enlist on his master plan. And now they were still on opposite sides of the law, but Warren was asking him…what, exactly?

"You can't be serious," Will said, ignoring the tiny part of him that almost hoped Warren was. "My parents…Layla…"

"Fighting a losing battle, just like you," Warren interrupted, mouth twisting into that grim line that Will knew meant he was losing his patience. "I don't want to kill you, Will."

"You're not going to kill me," Will answered, and that much, at least, he was sure of. At least he thought he was sure. "Besides, I've beaten you before."

Warren's head inclined almost imperceptibly, and Will knew that was the only acknowledgement he was going to get. They both knew it was true; they'd been pretty evenly matched their whole lives, and that was why they'd worked so well together. At least that's what Will had always thought, that they were two halves of the same coin. He'd just never expected to have to prove it.

"I can't let you do this," he tried again, even though he wasn't exactly sure what the master plan was. The only thing he knew for sure was that Warren wasn't in charge; he was following his father's lead, and Barron Battle was the one with nothing to lose.

"I can't let you stop me," Warren said, flames growing higher on his arms and Will wished suddenly that his superpower was ice like that girl they'd gone to school with.

"Warren," he said, pleading again and he knew he sounded pathetic, but it didn't matter. Just for a second Warren's expression softened, and Will thought maybe he was having second thoughts. His heart leapt and he took a step forward, but as soon as he moved Warren's expression turned fierce.

"Forget it. We're not in college anymore, Will, and this isn't a game. You're either with me or you're against me."

"Then I guess we don't have anything more to say," Will said, hoping his voice wasn't shaking. He had super strength and flight on his side, but Warren was a step ahead of him, and by the time Will made it up and through the roof he'd be engulfed in flames. Maybe he could fly fast enough to put them out, but there was always the chance he'd burn up before he made it to water.

"Guess not," Warren answered, and for a second Will almost imagined he could see a hint of sadness in Warren's eyes. Then it was gone, and Warren was drawing a hand back. Will pushed off the ground, but before he made it more than a few feet there was a wall of flame in front of him, and Warren was sprinting out of the room toward a door in the far wall. Gone again, just like that, and there was a part of Will that wished he'd let Warren take him along for the ride.


End file.
